Tag: Elliot Morales

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NYC: Elliot Morales Found Guilty Of Murder As A Hate Crime In Mark Carson Shooting Death

Murder victim Mark Carson

Elliot Morales has been found guilty of second degree murder as a hate crime in the fatal shooting of openly gay Mark Carson in Greenwich Village in May 2013.

From the New York Times:

The jury of four men and eight women deliberated for two days after two weeks of emotional testimony in State Supreme Court, during which Mr. Morales represented himself and took the witness stand to declare he was not prejudiced toward gay people. Murder as a hate crime carries a minimum sentence of 20 years to life, five years more than a second-degree murder conviction.

Mr. Morales shook his head in disbelief and muttered under his breath as the jury foreman read the verdict sheet: guilty on all counts.

Several witnesses testified they saw Mr. Morales pull a silver revolver and shoot Mark Carson in the face after an argument during which he called Mr. Carson and his friend, Danny Robinson, “faggots” and “gay wrestlers.”

Mr. Morales denied that his motive had been bigotry and said he was bisexual. He claimed he acted in self-defense because he felt he was about to be attacked by Mr. Carson and Mr. Robinson. He said he raised his gun and fired after he saw Mr. Robinson pull what looked like a black pistol from his pocket. “I just reacted,” he said during his closing argument. “This was not a deliberate act.”

Morales was found guilty of all the charges filed against his: murder in the second degree as a hate crime, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, menacing a police officer, and menacing in the second degree.

Morales, who has previously served 11 years in prison for a robbery involved three women who he tied up and beat with a lead pipe, was reportedly drunk the night of the shooting.

As he was being arrested, Morales was captured on video admitting to police that he shot Carson.

Morales, 36, represented himself in the murder trial. He now faces 20 years to life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for April 11th.

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NYC: Transgender Woman Says Hate Crime Killer Is Not A Bigot

Elliot Morales

A man who shot and killed a gay man in Greenwich Village in 2013 while yelling anti-gay slurs, presented to the court deciding his fate a character witness who claims the two were lovers for ten years proving Morales is no bigot.

Elliot Morales, acting as his own lawyer for the hate-crime slaying of gay stranger Mark Carson, called as his first witness a former flame whom he’d met online.

The 38-year-old transsexual woman, using the pseudonym Jane Smith, testified from behind a curtain in Manhattan Supreme Court that she and Morales, 36, had a physical relationship on and off for 10 years.

“In your experience and personal knowledge, do you believe Elliot Morales is a person who hates gays?” Morales asked the pre-op transsexual, who does HIV testing in a clinic that caters to the LGBT community.

“Absolutely not,” she answered.

The woman said she met Morales after he responded to her dating profile that stated, “Transsexual woman looking for a man.”

Charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime, Morales faces 30 years to life in prison.

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Jurors See Video Confession Of 2013 Greenwich Village Hate Crime

Jurors currently deliberating the murder of a gay man in Greenwich Village in May 2013 were shown a cellphone video Thursday of homophobic killer Elliot Morales confessing to his crime after being taken into custody.

Via New York Post:

“I f–king shot him dead!” Morales shouts, cackling, as several NYPD officers restrain him face-first on the pavement.

“Diagnosis dead, doctor!” he continues, laughing to the police. “They don’t teach you that in the academy, right?”

Morales then tries to lick the pavement and lifts his head as if he’s about to slam it into the concrete, but a cop stops him.

Morales, 36, is representing himself at his murder trial in Manhattan Supreme Court for the hate-crime slaying of stranger Mark Carson in Greenwich Village on May 18, 2013.

The officer said that when he first arrived on the scene at Third Street near MacDougal Street, Morales told him, “I shot him dead. He deserved it. He was acting tough in front of his bitch.”

Morales, charged with second degree murder as a hate crime, faces life in prison if convicted. He asked for, and received, permission to represent himself in the court case.

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NYC: Accused shooter of Mark Carson “laughed and boasted” of killing to police

photo via NYPost/Christopher Sadowski

The New York Post reports that the man accused of shooting New Yorker Mark Carson in the face at point blank range laughed and boasted about the shooting shortly after being arrested.

“Yeah, I shot him in the head,” sneered Elliot Morales, 33, while “laughing on the ground” when cops were handcuffing him for shooting Mark Carson, 32, early Saturday morning.

Morales today was held without bail on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, menacing and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, court records show.

“Look at these faggots,” said Morales, who was accompanied by two friends, according to police.

“What are you, gay wrestlers?” he challenged Carson and his pal, who were wearing boots, cut-off shorts and tank tops.

Carson and his friend kept walking to avoid a confrontation, but Morales — whose pals left him before he turned violent — followed the duo and asked Carson, “Do you want to die here?”

Morales allegedly pulled out a silver Taurus .38-caliber revolver and blasted the man in the cheek. Carson died shortly after at Beth Israel Hospital.

Morales has six prior arrests, including attempted murder in 1998 and others for criminal possession of a weapon.

He’s served more than nine years in both city and state prisons.

The NY Post says Morales’ two friends have been questioned and released, and are considered “cooperative” in the ongoing investigation.

(via source)